SORRY!!!

Sorry for sure, it has taken me a year and a half to update this thing! So much has happened, not happened, or will happen that i do not even know where to begin!!

WHY DID I NOT UPDATE?: Thank you for asking! I no longer have internet at home. It MAY resume on the 24th, but who really knows. At the same time, my computer was taken at work for upgrading, forcing me to poach a front office computer between the hours of 9 and 9:15 (summer hours of course) or go to Kinkos and use my nonexistant credit card to get online simply to check out peoples info.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?: Well, once again, thank you for probing. First i went to Deer Valley Utah then i went to my house. Then i went to Sonoma CA then Pismo then my house.

DV: Did a little bike race here. This was fun and family man freeman carted us all around in a suburban and we all stayed in style and comfort and raced so nice little trails. Didnt place so good, but thats ok. I had things to work on like dont freak out and ideas like think about racing, not dozer or snacks I also really worked on my descending and rode all the nasty little tricky spots.

SONOMA: I went solo on this one in the fantastic non-AC jeep (they told me $800 to fix it, so i drove the back way) the jeep also decided to over heat numerous times and leave gallons of coolant all over I5. Interesting things: Saw a truck tire BLOW off on I5. Saw a semi use the "runaway truck ramp" on the 101. Decided i would never ever live off the 5 bewteen here and pretty much mt shasta. awful places for sure. If you ever have to move to Shafter or Coalinga, i am sorry. I also saw Onions, tomatoes, hay, alfalfa and garlic ALL OVER the road and when i drove behind those wonderful trucks, all above mentioned treats ended up in the car due to all the windows being open.

I got to the venue at 4:54pm. Registration closed at 5pm, forever, i was stressed, only a little though. haha. After being told by Trek Josh that i was too amped up to preride with him (shocking after 10 hours alone and 4 dr. peppers) i checked out the course and realized that all my contacts for a place to stay had never called me back and i had never thought about it. oops. so at 8:20pm i am cruising Napa trying to remember where my non-Aunt lives. It all worked out, but i kinda added some stress.

XC: This was fun and quite interesting, but ended up being very disturbing. I felt really good the whole. Actually strong and condifent. I came in last in my category. SO it that a bad thing???? I still beat the usuals in other cats like the 19-24s etc, but none of the ones i was actually racing. STXC was a bit of a redemption in that i was 22/35 or something. i was called up 2nd to last in the largest ever open women field so i just had to start picking them off. I rode this one really smart i think and picked really good lines and used my gears well, whatever makes you feel good about coming in 22nd i guess. But i actually laughed OUT LOUD because there was a HUGE pile up where the pavement went to dirt and it funnelled us in there onto the mountain cross bumps. i had bet myself (due to being alone ALL WEEKEND) that people would eat it here, so when they did i just got off, pointed and laughed and ran by.

Oh yes, i did all this with a new carbo hard tail.

ROUNDS: I was able to make quite the social rounds while up there. I grew up in the Napa Valley and spent college and post college there, so i had a lot of catching up to do. I saw theBlunts who have Dozers brother - pictures to come of course!! Then i hung out with Haidi - one of my basketball teammates who was celebrating her 27th bday! Here i ran into tons of riff-raff, you know the type you had intro to physics with and maybe borrowed their calculator once, but now we are supposed to reflect on some fantastic history together, and then actual old bball teammates and pals. Sunday i drove to Stanford to see the Clark family for delicious food! Jesse is the old bball coach, wife Kelly is the strength coach at Stanford and little Jake well he just plays with stuff. Then i headed to Pismo where Grandma D is in a rehab place for a broken femur! Yikes!!! She and grandpa just moved from Yosemite to San Luis Obispo so he and i had breakfast monday. he made pancakes, 1/3 a canteloup (EACH) a nectarine, oj, and banana bread. It was really funny and good! I also stayed with the Hamricks In Shell Beach. It was like the family tour. I just wished my bikes could have been people so a) i could talk to them and b) i could use the carpool lane!!

MUSIC: i realized that i mostly listened to musica en espanol or r&b while i drove. I never could really tell what was on the station since i was giong at least 78 mph and all the windows were open. I would be singing along, just a bit then slow down and realize i couldnt understand a word they were saying.

NEW PLACE TO RIDE: I did a little Poop out and Jenks lake last week, fantastic!!

PLUMES OF SMOKE: I am not really afraid, yet, i think. But then when i come down the mountain and pass 4 complete CDF strike teams, you get a bit nervous. LAst week it looked like an A bomb had gone off at the end of the Canyon and the sun sets a dirty red color, other than that, no ash and no trees for tinder, yet...

SQUARE NO MORE: i really did live in a square. About 20x20. If you dont believe, well you should. But over the Deer Valley weekend and even through today, i upgraded. Quality of life has increased exponentially except for the refridgerator that is sitting on the patio until i take the kitchen door off to get it in. I will have to a thank you blog in the near future for all those who made this move a possibility and who have helped furnish it!!!! My home phone number is still the same, so you cant use that for an excuse of not calling me.

CHANGE OF TONE: This issue has been at the forefront of my mind for about 4 weeks. I have seen 5 severe and horrific car crashes between the bridge in Forest Falls and the Jerky Hut in the last 4 weeks. From what i know, 4 of those resulted in fatalities, one my have been a double. the most recent was last night, right around dusk, about 2 minutes from my house. One of Jasons dish washers from Forest Home flipped his car and got it stuck between two trees where he passed away. he could not have been more than 17 years old. This marks the anniversary of another dishwasher and his dad who passed away due to an illegal pass on hwy 38. All the others have taken place on the flats. The speed limit is 50 i think but most people drive it 65. People dont realize we hug the line of the wilderness and that creatures come out. They also dont realize that the thin line is also one where people live. The one i saw when driving back from Ontario airport and Deer Valley was a 13 year old and 18 year who were both riding the same bike with no helmets or lights on a shoulder that does not exist at 11pm, where they were hit by a guy who didnt even have a license and who fled the scene. It makes me irate as a cyclists and as a teacher, from both angles. The next day about 300 yards up a volkswagen golf was wrapped around a tree in someones front yard. Seeing all this carnage has made me think twice about car selections, who i get in the car with and where/when i ride my bike. So many people are coming up to the falls or the creek, pounding the brews, then rocketing home. Every week i see a new cross errected on the side of the road with teddy bears and flowers and pictures. it seems that every week they creap closer to home. Pretty much, please be careful. We cant over analyze and freak out and stay in the house, but please, double and triple check your situations and decisions.